Committee recommends 10 improvements to child protection in N.B.

New Brunswick's child death review committee is making 10 recommendations in a report regarding the death of a two-year-old girl.

The toddler died in April 2004. An autopsy found that a plastic pencil-shaped toy nine centimetres long and one centimetre in diameter had perforated her bowel. It had been inside the girl for two to three days.

Her mother, Anna-Marie Mooers, 27, was convicted of criminal negligence causing death in October for failing to recognize her daughter was in need of medical attention. Mooers was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Social workers had been investigating the family prior to the toddler's death.

During Mooers's trial, social workers testified they were too overworked to intervene properly before two-year-old died, even though they had fielded 15 calls from people concerned about the girl's well-being.

On Wednesday, the child death review committee put forward recommendations on how to prevent such deaths in the future.

The recommendations indicate there is a need for the Fredericton and Woodstock child protection offices to work more closely together, focusing on solutions rather than on problems.

The report also recommends that the Department of Social Development concentrate on improving services in rural areas, using incentives to recruit workers and improve their training opportunities.

All government agencies involved in social work should work together and share relevant information, said the report, and there must also be collaboration with outside agencies and the police.

The report also recommended that social workers should pay more attention to common-law relationships, when new partners become part of the family life of a child.

Mooers's former boyfriend, Curtis Hathaway, was also charged in connection to the child's death but was acquitted. He is now facing a charge of sexual assault involving a different child.

Social Development Minister Mary Schryer declined to comment on the specific recommendations but said in a release she will respond to the report within 45 days.

"The protection of children is one of our primary concerns at the Department of Social Development," Schryer said.

"All children have the right to a life free of abuse and neglect. Over the last few years, significant changes have been made to our child protection system, and we are committed to continuous improvement of our system."

New Brunswick's Child and Youth Advocate Bernard Richard also declined to comment on the committee's report. Richard is completing his own report on child protection in New Brunswick and the toddler's death. It is expected to be released next week.